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There has been a serious problem with the homophobia of Mayor Bloomberg's and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly's NYPD for years. Unless the victims of queer bashings are famous or dead, the NYPD is notorious for its slow responses and lack of action on the cases.
On April 27, Bloomberg and Kelly have gotten the mayor's Community Assistance Unit to deny a permit to move the annual queer pride festival to a different day and location, even though the CAU originally said that they would approve the permit.
They are using an unconstitutional 2003 moritorium on new street festivals as the excuse, even though this was not a new street festival. They violated their own illegal policy in order to discriminate against queers.
The old location was difficult to access during the day of the parade, and that resulted in a disturbingly low turnout for the festival. In most cities, pride festivals play a critical role in community building, something that homophobic bigots like Bloomberg and Kelly would like to avoid.
Annual Pridefest Likely to Be Nixed (Gay City News)
Information from Heritage of Pride
Psycho Woman Throws Knives At Children
13 years ago
How can you help HERITAGE of PRIDE bring PRIDEfest to Chelsea?
1. Using the attached letter as a sample, write letters, send faxes and emails to the following people and news media…. and make phone calls. Tell the Mayor that the economic improvement of Chelsea should be a priority of his, as Times Square seems to be! A weekend of Pride Activities brings anywhere from 300,000 to 500,000 tourists from around the world to NYC (the birthplace of LGBT liberation after the Stonewall Riots of 1969).
2. Heritage of Pride (HOP) will host an open, free Community Forum about PRIDEfest on Wednesday, May 23rd, 2007. The forum will begin at 7pm and go to 9:30pm. The place is the LGBT Community Center, 208 West 13th Street (7th Avenue), Manhattan. Everyone who has a stake in wanting to see a beautiful and exciting community-building event on Eighth Avenue for ALL children, youth, young adults, adults and seniors are invited to attend, get information and strategize. We want the Mayor to reverse his bad decision NOW for next year – Saturday, June 28th, 2008… and that will take a lot of convincing leading up to Pride Week, during Pride Week, and possibly after Pride Week!
3. Get the word out by talking to your fellow Chelsea businesses, restaurants, organizations, block associations and individuals. Feel free to make copies of the attached flyer and post it in your place of business.
4. We want to mobilize hundreds of thousands of folks to STILL visit all the businesses and cultural institutions of Chelsea throughout Pride Week, Sunday, June 17 to Sunday, June 24!
5. Go to HOP’s web page – www.hopinc.org – or call our PRIDEfest hotline, (212) 807- 6537 for up-to-date information about PRIDEfest actions you can participate in!
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Who should I complain to about HOP’s PRIDEfest not getting its 8th Avenue permit???
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg
Office of the Mayor
City Hall
New York, NY 10007
FAX (212) 788-8123
To email go to below website:
www.nyc.gov/html/mail/html/mayor.html
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Ms. Joey Koch
Special Counsel to the Mayor
Phone (212) 788-8494
Email: jkoch@cityhall.nyc.gov
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Your NYC Councilperson:
To email go to the below website:
www.nyccouncil.info/constituent
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Patrick J. Brennan
Commissioner
Community Assistance Unit
100 Gold Street, 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10038
Phone (212) 788-7439 and (212) 788-7418
Fax (212) 788-7754
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Anthony W. Crowell
Counselor to the Mayor / LGBT Liaison
City Hall
New York, NY 10007
Phone (212) 788-3000
Fax (212) 788-2460
Date:
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg
Office of the Mayor
City Hall
New York, NY 10007
Dear Mayor Bloomberg,
I am very angry that the Mayor’s Office has refused to give Heritage of Pride (HOP) organizers of NYC’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Pride Events, a permit for their 15th Annual PRIDEfest (PF). This event was to be held on Saturday, June 23rd, 2007 on Eighth Avenue between 14th and 23rd Streets. PF has the support of 150 businesses on Eighth Avenue. The Greenwich Village – Chelsea Chamber of Commerce is a strong supporter, as well as the 15-member Chelsea Cultural Partnership.
Since 1969, Manhattan’s Pride events have drawn hundreds of thousands of LGBT people from around the world to NYC, the last week of every June. They spend millions of dollars staying in hotels, eating in restaurants, buying tickets to cultural events, as well as merchandise for friends and themselves. Thousands of LGBT people and our straight supporters live and/or work in NYC and contribute to the economy of this city as well.
PF has been 9 months in the planning. Its permit was filed on December 20th, 2006, and was unanimously approved by Community Board 4 (Chelsea) on March 7, 2007. Why would your office wait till two months before the event to deny its street permit?
PF’s move to Eighth Avenue included specific areas devoted to all Seniors, Parents and Children in Kelly Park off Eighth Avenue, and a YouthSpace. For the first time, PF would have been fully accessible to the Physically-Challenged. Unlike the other 367 mundane street fairs, PF would have been a beautiful, community event you and NYC would have been excited to be at and promote!
PF’s previous narrow, pot-holed location on Washington Street is unsafe for the hundreds of thousands of men, women and children who attend this event. It is unacceptable to me that the City is willing to disregard public safety and not support further business development and tourism for Chelsea. This year is too late, but HOP should be issued a street activities permit immediately for PRIDEfest on Eighth Avenue for Saturday, June 28th, 2008!
Sincerely,
Name:
Organization or Business (if any):
Address:
City, State, Zip: